Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an accessory shoe device to which an accessory is attached, an image pickup apparatus equipped with the accessory shoe device, and an accessory.
Description of the Related Art
As an image pickup apparatus, there has been known one equipped with an accessory shoe device to which a photographic accessory (hereinafter simply referred to as “the accessory”) can be attached. The accessory shoe device of the image pickup apparatus is provided with an engagement portion for attachment of an accessory.
As the accessory attachable to the accessory shoe device, there may be mentioned not only an external strobe device, but also an electronic viewfinder (external display device) provided with a small-sized liquid crystal screen. In an area of the engagement portion of the accessory shoe device to which the electronic viewfinder can be attached, there is provided a connection connector comprised of a plurality of connection terminals for attachment of the electronic viewfinder, in addition to connection terminals for connection to the external strobe device. Thus, the accessory shoe device has a configuration in which the two kinds of accessories, i.e. the external strobe device and the electronic viewfinder, can be selectively attached to the single engagement portion (see Publication of Japanese Patent No. 4042717).
The accessory shoe device for attachment of the external strobe device has a shape defined by JIS. JIS defines the shape of the engagement portion for engagement with a connector portion of an accessory, and the positional relationship between the external strobe device and a synchronizer contact.
As for the electronic viewfinder, there has recently been a tendency toward multi-polarization, i.e. a tendency toward an increased number of connection signal terminals for connection to an image pickup apparatus according to an increasing demand for an increased number of pixels and a higher frame rate. Under these circumstances, it is desired to develop a connection connector and an accessory shoe device which are capable of meeting the needs of an increased number of connection signal terminals, but it is difficult to multi-polarize a connection connector in an accessory shoe device having its shape specified by the standards, due to restriction of space.